France knew of and told CIA about al-Qaeda hijack plans prior to 9/11
{{date|April 17, 2007}}
{{Al-Qaeda}}
Reports produced by the [[France|French]] secret services reveal that they knew that [[w:al-Qaeda|al-Qaeda]] was planning attacks on the [[United States]] at least eight months before the [[w:9/11|9/11]] attacks and that the attack was going to involve U.S. jetliners, the French newspaper ''[[w:Le Monde|Le Monde]]'' reports. 

''Le Monde'' also says one of the reports was handed to Bill Murray, a [[w:CIA|CIA]] agent working at the [[w:Paris|Paris]] station at the time, but no record of that handover has been released in the U.S. governments [[w:9/11 commission|9/11 commission]] report in 2004.

"[The French government knew of a] plan to hijack an aircraft by Islamic radicals," said the report, adding the planned attack had been discussed by al-Qaeda, [[w:Taliban|Taliban]] and [[w:Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan|Uzbek militants]] in 2000.  However; the ''Washington Post'' and ''The Daily times'' mistakenly say that the Uzbeck militants were [[w:Chechen people|Chechen]].

According to the reports, al-Qaeda was planning to launch the 9/11 attack in March or September in 2000, but that the attack was delayed because of "differences of opinion, particularly over the date, objective and participants."

"You have to remember that a plane hijack (in January 2001) did not have the same significance as it did after September 11. At the time, it implied forcing a plane to land at an airport and undertaking negotiations," said Pierre-Antoine Lorenzi.

The CIA said that the report does not show that the U.S. or France had advance knowledge that an attack was going to take place.

"Today's Le Monde article merely repeats what the U.S. government knew and reported before September 11 that al Qaeda was interested in airliner plots, especially hijackings. The article does not suggest that U.S. or foreign officials had advance knowledge of the details surrounding the September 11 plot. Had the details been known, the U.S. government would have acted on them," a spokesman for the CIA, George Little, said.

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C04%5C17%5Cstory_17-4-2007_pg4_3
|title=‘France told US of Al Qaeda hijack plans before 9/11’
|author=
|pub=Daily Times
|date=April 17, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3224,36-896448@51-892780,0.html
|title=11 septembre 2001 : les Français en savaient long
|author=
|pub=Le Monde
|date=April 16, 2007}}  
*{{source|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/16/AR2007041600439.html
|title=French "knew in 2001 al Qaeda was planning hijack"
|author=Reuters
|pub=Washington Post
|date=April 16, 2007}}

{{publish}}
{{archived}}

[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:France]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:9/11]]
[[Category:Al-Qaeda]]
[[Category:Aircraft hijackings]]
[[Category:Le Monde]]
[[Category:Washington Post]]

[[fr:11 septembre 2001 : les services de renseignements français avaient alerté leurs homologues américains]]
Reports produced by the French secret services reveal that they knew that al-Qaeda was planning attacks on the United States at least eight months before the 9/11 attacks and that the attack was going to involve U.S. jetliners, the French newspaper Le Monde reports. 

Le Monde also says one of the reports was handed to Bill Murray, a CIA agent working at the Paris station at the time, but no record of that handover has been released in the U.S. governments 9/11 commission report in 2004.

"The French government knew of a plan to hijack an aircraft by Islamic radicals," said the report, adding the planned attack had been discussed by al-Qaeda, Taliban and Uzbek militants in 2000.  However; the Washington Post and The Daily times mistakenly say that the Uzbeck militants were Chechen.

According to the reports, al-Qaeda was planning to launch the 9/11 attack in March or September in 2000, but that the attack was delayed because of "differences of opinion, particularly over the date, objective and participants."

"You have to remember that a plane hijack (in January 2001) did not have the same significance as it did after September 11. At the time, it implied forcing a plane to land at an airport and undertaking negotiations," said Pierre-Antoine Lorenzi.

The CIA said that the report does not show that the U.S. or France had advance knowledge that an attack was going to take place.

"Today's Le Monde article merely repeats what the U.S. government knew and reported before September 11 that al Qaeda was interested in airliner plots, especially hijackings. The article does not suggest that U.S. or foreign officials had advance knowledge of the details surrounding the September 11 plot. Had the details been known, the U.S. government would have acted on them," a spokesman for the CIA, George Little, said.

fr:11 septembre 2001 : les services de renseignements français avaient alerté leurs homologues américains
United States Politics and conflicts Europe France North America 9/11 Al-Qaeda Aircraft hijackings Le Monde Washington Post